Let It Snow!
by jlm110108
Summary: Mom and Dad take Donnie and Charlie to see snow for the first time. This was written for a challenge at Live Journal.


"Is not!"

"Is so!"

"Is not! Mommyyyy!!!"

Margaret Eppes looked up from her work and rolled her eyes. "Donnie! Charlie! What are you fighting about now?"

Charlie ran around the corner into the dining room, full of the righteous indignation only a four year old could muster. "Donnie says snow is cold! I tol' him it isn't. I touched the snow in the mall when you took me to see Santa Claus yesterday, an' it was warm and fuzzy."

Nine year old Donnie rounded the corner, slowly, with the dignity fitting his advanced age. "Mom, I told Charlie the stuff in the mall wasn't real snow, but he doesn't believe me."

Margaret scooted her chair back and picked Charlie up. "Sweetie, Donnie's right..."

"Yessss!" Donnie jumped up and pumped his fist. "Told ya, Squirt!"

Charlie's lower lip began to tremble, and tears welled up in his big brown eyes. Margaret hugged him closer, running her fingers through his unruly brown curls, and scowled at Donnie. "Don't be mean, Donnie."

"I'm sorry, Mommy. But I was right."

"Yes, you were. But it's not nice to rub it in, Honey. Where did you learn about snow?" Margaret asked Donnie as she snuggled Charlie.

Donnie sat down next to Margaret. "Mikey went to the mountains on vacation. He told me all about it. He said snow was like the stuff inside the freezer before you defrost it."

"I wanna see snow," Charlie's voice was muffled against Margaret's shoulder. "An' I wanna touch it."

"Me too," Donnie said.

Margaret smiled. "I think we can arrange that. Daddy!"

Alan looked up from his paper. "Yes, Dear?"

Margaret carried Charlie into the living room with Donnie following close behind. "I think it's time these guys get to see snow."

Alan chuckled. "I keep forgetting we're raising a pair of southern Californians. What d'you say we go up to the mountains on Saturday? I hear Lake Arrowhead has a foot of snow on the ground."

"Lake Arrowhead?" Margaret looked confused for a moment, then realization dawned on her face and she grinned. "I think Lake Arrowhead would be the perfect place for these two guys to finally see snow."

Bright and early Saturday morning, Alan and Margaret filled an old backpack with sweaters, jackets and mittens and buckled the boys into the station wagon for the drive to Lake Arrowhead. "What do we need coats for?" Charlie asked as Alan backed out of the driveway.

"We need 'em 'cause the snow is cold, dummy," Donnie muttered.

Alan pulled the car over, slammed on the brakes and turned to glare at his older son. "Donnie, do you want me to drop you off with Aunt Irene while we go the mountains?"

"No, sir," Donnie said, his eyes downcast.

Margaret turned around. "Tell your brother you're sorry."

"I'm sorry I called you a dummy," Donnie mumbled, still looking down at his hands.

"'S'okay, Donnie," Charlie patted Donnie on the knee. "I forgive you."

Alan pulled back into traffic. "I don't want to hear any more arguing from you two for the rest of the day."

"Yes, Dad," the boys said in unison. Charlie picked up a picture book and turned as far as his booster seat would permit so he could put his feet on the seat. At a warning scowl from his brother, he pulled his feet in closer to avoid the invisible line of demarcation that ran down the middle of their seat. Donnie nodded his approval and picked up a Batman comic book to read.

Fifteen long minutes later, Charlie looked up from his book. "Daddy..."

Alan glanced in the rearview mirror. "We're not there yet."

"How'd you know what I was gonna say?"

"Parents have an inborn psychic sense," Alan chuckled.

"What's psychic?" Donnie asked.

"It means we can read your minds," Margaret answered.

Donnie's eyes widened. "Can you really?"

Margaret chuckled, "Not really, Sweetie. We've just been around the two of you long enough to guess what you're going to say next."

Donnie sighed in relief. "Oh. That's good."

"Why?" Alan scowled into the rearview mirror. "You got something to hide?"

"Uh, no. I... I just..."

"Daddy," Margaret gave Alan a playful punch, "don't tease him."

Charlie put his picture book down and pulled out a notebook. "Daddy?"

"Yes, Charlie?"

"How far is it to Lake Arrowhead?"

"About seventy miles. Why?"

"How fast are you driving?"

Alan grinned and shook his head. "I'm driving thirty miles an hour right now."

Charlie thought for a second. "We're gonna be there in two 'n' a third hours, right, Daddy?"

"Well, not exactly. Remember that I'm not always doing thirty five. Sometimes I can go faster, and sometimes I have to stop."

Charlie took out a notebook and pencil. Holding the pencil awkwardly in his little hand, he scowled in concentration and began writing numbers in the notebook.

Alan glanced at Margaret and whispered, "That'll keep him out of trouble for a while."

One hour and forty five minutes later, they pulled in to a parking lot. Donnie looked up from his comic book. "Wow! Hey, Charlie, look at that!"

Charlie undid his seatbelt and knelt on the seat so he could look out the window. "Snow!

Donnie! Donnie! It's snow! All over the place!" He started to unlock his door.

"Charlie! Wait!" Margaret grabbed his hand. "Let Daddy park the car first."

"What's that building over there?" Donnie asked. His eyes widened. "Is that a giant candy cane?"

"We're at Santa's Village," Alan said. "Now, before you get out of the car, get your sweaters and jackets out of the backpack and put 'em on."

Donnie grabbed the backpack and pulled out his things before handing the bag to Charlie. "Hurry up!"

Charlie was so excited he couldn't fasten his jacket. Finally, with a deep sigh, Donnie helped him. "Okay! We're ready!" He announced.

Alan opened Donnie's door while Margaret opened Charlie's.

Donnie stepped gingerly onto the icy pavement. Once he was sure his feet were going to stay where he put them, he bent down and picked up a handful of snow. "Wow! It really is cold! Hey, Charlie! Touch it!"

Charlie hadn't been as careful as Donnie had been, and sat on the snow-covered pavement, blinking his eyes in surprise. "It's slippy. And it's cold! You were right, Donnie!" He held up his hands and let Margaret help him back to his feet. He held her hand as he walked -- a little more carefully -- toward the building. "Is that really where Santa Claus lives?"

"Well, Honey, Santa lives at the North Pole, but he has a helper here so the kids in California don't have to go all the way to Santa's house."

Donnie came up beside Charlie and took his other hand. "Be careful, Squirt. It's slippery."

Charlie wiggled his snow-covered butt at Donnie. "I know. Look! I got snow on me."

Donnie giggled as he brushed the snow off of his brother. "You fell down already?"

"I was in a hurry. I didn't know snow would be so slippy. I wanna see if that giant candy cane is real. I love candy canes!"

"I don't think it's real, Buddy. But I'll betcha we can find some real candy canes around here somewhere."

"I'll bet we can," Alan said. "I hear they have a real candy kitchen here."

Margaret managed to convince the boys to see the rest of the park before visiting the candy kitchen. Charlie stood patiently in line to see Santa, while Donnie stood beside him, just to keep him company. When it was his turn, Charlie clambered into Santa's lap while Donnie stood back and watched.

"Hi, little boy. What's your name?"

"I'm Charles Edward Eppes and I'm Jewish, but I wanted to say hi to you and thank you for letting us visit your village."

"Ho, ho, ho!" Santa laughed. "Well, Charles Edward Eppes, I'm please to meet you, and I hope you enjoy your visit."

"Oh, I will. I'm four years old and I've never ever seen snow before in my whole life! And today I fell down on my butt and got all covered in snow."

"Oh, no!" Santa said, "I hope you didn't hurt yourself."

"I didn't. It was fun. That's my brother Donnie. He's too grown up to sit on your lap, but I betcha he wants to say hi too."

Donnie blushed and waved shyly, "Hi, Santa."

"Hi, Donnie. Do you boys like candy canes?" Santa held up two candy canes.

"Yes, sir!" Donnie grinned. "Thank you!"

"Thank you," Charlie said, reaching up to hug Santa.

After a day of bobsledding, petting real live reindeer and riding on Santa's monorail, Donnie and Charlie were finally ready to sit down and have something other than candy to eat.

"Hamburgers and hot dogs. It's not exactly a four star restaurant," Alan whispered to Margaret as he perused the menu.

"I think it's just fine," Margaret said, giving Alan a quick kiss on the cheek. "In fact," she glanced at the two boys. "I think it's absolutely perfect. Donnie, what would you like?"

"A hot dog with sauerkraut and french fries. Please."

"How about you, Charlie?"

"I want a hangurber, please. An' french fries. An' can I have cheese on the hangurber, too?"

"Can I have Coke?" Donnie asked, looking hopeful.

"Me too!" Charlie bounced up and down in his seat. "Please?"

Margaret shook her head. "I think you boys had better have milk. You've had way too much sugar today."

"Okay," Donnie sighed. Then he looked up at Margaret, smiling his most winning smile. "Chocolate milk?"

Margaret laughed, "Oh, all right. Chocolate milk it is. You want chocolate too, Charlie?"

"Yes, please!"

By the time they had finished eating, Charlie's eyes were drifting shut and Donnie was staring off into space. Margaret and Alan helped the boys into their jackets. Alan picked Charlie up, and Margaret took Donnie's hand. Charlie rested his head on Alan's shoulder and fell asleep. As they walked back to the car, Alan said, "Well, Donnie, what did you think of snow?"

"I like it." Donnie grinned and bent down to pick up a handful of snow. "I wish I could bring some home to show the guys. Too bad it'll melt."

Alan unlocked the car door and gently put Charlie in his booster seat. Charlie stirred, sighed and leaned back, sound asleep. Alan closed the door as quietly as possible as Margaret opened Donnie's door for him.

As Alan was walking behind the station wagon, he glanced through the back window. "Hey, Donnie," he said, "look in the back of the car."

Donnie knelt on the seat and looked into the back. At first, he was confused, then he caught sight of what his father had seen. He scrambled into the back and grabbed the Coleman cooler. Handing it to Alan, he asked, "You think it'll work?"

"It won't hurt to try. Come on."

"What about Charlie?"

"Mommy, would you stay with Sleeping Beauty?"

"Of course, Daddy. You boys have fun!"

Alan and Donnie ran to the edge of the parking lot and onto the snow covered lawn. Alan opened the cooler. "Okay, Buddy, let's pack it as full as we can. The more snow we can fit in here, the colder it'll stay."

"Cool," Donnie said, grabbing a double handful of snow.

"Very funny," Alan laughed, ruffling Donnie's curly brown hair.

"Huh?"

"You made a joke, Donnie. I was talking about the cooler, and you said..."

Donnie laughed. "I said 'cool.' I get it!"

They packed the cooler full and took it back to the car. Alan wrapped the cooler in a blanket. "There. Get in the car and let's see how fast we can get your snow home."

As soon as Alan pulled into the driveway, Donnie undid his seatbelt. "We gotta hurry, Daddy! We gotta get the snow into the freezer quick!"

Margaret ran to the front door and unlocked it while Alan popped the tailgate on the station wagon and grabbed the cooler, still wrapped in its blanket. While Alan and Donnie hurried into the house, Margaret went back to the car and picked Charlie up. He blinked and yawned. "Hi, Mommy," he murmured. "Are we home?" Where's Donnie and Daddy?"

"Yep, Sweetie. We're home. Donnie and Daddy are in the house."

Donnie ran toward Margaret and Charlie. "It worked! Mommy! It worked!"

"What worked?" Charlie mumbled.

"Daddy and Donnie brought back some snow."

"Really?" Charlie wiggled, trying to get out of Margaret's arms. "I wanna see. Let me down, Mommy!" His feet were moving the minute they hit the floor.

Donnie held up a hand to stop Charlie. "You can't see it now, Charlie. Daddy says it's gotta stay in the freezer. It's kinda soft now."

"Can I just take a little bitty peek?"

Donnie laughed and grabbed Charlie's hand. "Okay, but just a little bitty peek. Come on, Squirt! I think we got enough snow so you can show your friends, too."

"Awesome!" Charlie yelled as they ran into the kitchen. "This is the bestest day ever!"


End file.
